Right to the end, the couple will have had the bitterest of fights against the drift

Incredible expedition's end for the Dan Darley and Amelia Russell couple: if they don't advance for more than twelve hours at a stretch, they'll never get there...

The news of the Dan Darley and Amelia Russell expedition has been a bit topsy turvy these last few days. Why? One: since 23 April, they've no longer updated their daily blog. They simply don't have the time. Two: the negative drift that's been slowing them down throughout their entire adventure has still not left them, whereas a week ago they had thought that it was definitively a thing of the past. On the contrary, it's stronger than ever. On 22 April, for example, when they were taking a well-deserved twelve-hour rest after having marched/skied for 18 hours non-stop, they found themselves exactly 5.5 km from where they had stopped twelve hours earlier - in the wrong direction of course. Three: without forcing the pace and thwarting the drift, they risk wearing themselves out and never getting to the Pole in time.

Whence a change of strategy that was inevitably not communicated by the couple to their HQ in time. They had already changed their tactics a few days ago by moving from ten hours of progression (and work) every day to twelve. But given that they had a furious desire to wrap up this adventure, that was still not enough to see the Pole approaching at the speed that they wanted. Whence their decision to go from 12 to 18 hours of march, almost forced, per day. That has obviously paid off and on 23 April, for example, they did 31 kilometres of which only 18 were real (the drift as always). So the Pole was getting nearer.

Then there was the final decision made on 23 April when they were only some forty kilometres from their goal: the following day, 24 April (today), after a short rest, they were going to go right to the end without any further stopping before reaching their goal.

Stay tuned, as they say: we await their victorious arrival at the Pole.

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